Loose laid ventilating decorative floor covering

ABSTRACT

According to the invention there is provided a ventilating decorative floor covering ( 1 ) for loose laying on the upper surface of a floor, which floor covering has a decorative upper surface ( 5 ) and a lower surface ( 15 ) on which are formed one or more studs ( 20 ) which, in use, provide an air gap between the lower surface ( 15 ) of the floor covering and the upper surface of the floor sufficient to ventilate the floor. The floor covering can be applied to concrete floors which have not completely cured or on contaminated sub-floors, thus negating the need for timely and expensive sub-floor preparation.

The present invention provides a method for the installation of looselaid safety flooring providing the ventilation of newly laid concretefloors and a ventilating floor covering suitable for contaminated and/oruneven sub-floors.

Recently, there has been growing pressure in the construction industryfor newly-built and refurbished buildings to be ready for use in shorterperiods of time. With new construction methods, it is now possible toconstruct a new building in a relatively short period of time comparedto a few years ago. The time it takes for the concrete used in theconstruction of the building to cure has now been found to be a limitingfactor. The problem is that if a building is furnished before theconcrete is cured, the water vapour produced by the concrete in curingcauses damp in the building, damaging the furnishings. Another problemexperienced by flooring contractors is that of contaminated surfaces,this is a problem more common in refurbished buildings but may occur innew builds also. Contaminants such as oils, minor cracks etc will reducethe effectiveness of adhesives, and can also require expensivepreparations of the sub floor before a floor covering is laid.

A way of ameliorating these problems has been sought.

According to the invention, there is provided a method of laying a slipresistant floor covering to decorate and ventilate a concrete floorhaving an upper surface which method includes loose laying on the uppersurface of the floor a floor covering having a decorative slip resistantupper surface and a lower surface on which are formed a plurality ofstuds and/or other suitable profiles which provide an air gap betweenthe lower surface of the floor covering and the upper surface of thefloor sufficient to ventilate the floor. The invention is manufacturedto ensure a dimensionally stable floor covering with no curling,shrinkage etc.

According to the invention, there is also provided a ventilatingdecorative floor covering for loose laying on the upper surface of afloor which floor covering has a decorative upper surface and a lowersurface on which are formed one or more studs which, in use, provide anair gap between the lower surface of the floor covering and the uppersurface of the floor sufficient to ventilate the floor.

One advantage of the method of the invention is that by not adhering thefloor covering to a substantial portion of the floor and by providingstuds on the lower surface of the floor covering, ventilation of theupper surface of the floor is possible such that water vapour producedby the concrete floor during its curing can escape. Thus, the method ofthe invention can be applied to concrete floors which have notcompletely cured. The invention also allows the floor covering to belaid on contaminated sub-floors, thus negating the need for timely andexpensive sub-floor preparation. As a result, there is less delaybetween the end of construction of a building and the fitting out of itsinterior for use by its occupants. The reduction of this delay resultsin considerable cost savings and increased convenience for both theconstructor of the building and its future occupants alike. Theinvention allows the floor covering to be laid without a primer,adhesive and/or screed, which is an advantage to the environment andminimise any health and safety issues in confined spaces. The lack ofadhesive also improves recycling possibilities due to the lack of anyresidues and allows the floor covering to be easily removed, and theability to be used as a temporary floor covering.

A stud formed on the lower surface of the floor covering may be of anyshape or dimension and present in any number per unit area of the floorcovering suitable to ventilate the floor to which the floor covering isto be applied. A stud is optionally in the form of a projecting portionof the lower surface or a profile formed by the lower surface. The floorcovering is generally not adhered to the floor to which it is applied inorder that the upper surface of the floor is not sealed. This allowswater vapour to escape from the upper surface of the floor.

Preferably the floor covering will be a heterogenous plastics floorcovering made up from a plurality of layers which preferably include awear layer. The wear layer may be in the form of a coating, for exampleas described in WO 00/42274, the contents of which are incorporated byreference.

The lower surface of the floor covering is preferably chemically ormechanically modified to ensure that there is adequate grip between thelower surface of the floor covering and the floor to which it isapplied. Optionally the modification is in the form of a softeningand/or a roughening of the lower surface. One way in which the lowersurface could be roughened is by including a blowing agent in theplastics material from which the lower surface of the floor covering ispreferably formed. A suitable blowing agent for this purpose is a gasfilled microsphere such as that marketed under the name Expancel by AkzoNobel. The blowing agent is preferably included in a sufficient amountto roughen the lower surface of the floor covering. To soften the lowersurface of the floor covering, the lower surface could includeadditional plasticiser or a chemical blowing agent such as anazodicarbonamide.

Preferably the floor covering includes one or more particulate materialsto provide slip resistance. A particulate material is preferablyembedded in the upper surface of the flooring material which material isat least partially proud from the upper surface to achieve adequate slipresistance. A particulate material is optionally dispersed within thefloor covering to improve the non-slip properties further and/or toenhance the wear resistance of the floor covering.

The floor covering is preferably a plastics flooring material. Morepreferably the floor covering includes a plastics material which is aPVC, a plasticised PVC, a polyurethane, an epoxy resin, an acrylic, aplasticised acrylic, a polyurefin, a polyester, and/or other suitablethermoplastics. The preferred floor covering includes a plasticsmaterial such as a PVC plastisol.

The upper surface of the floor covering may optionally containdecorative elements such as a pigment and/or a PVC chip and any othersuitable decorative finish. The floor covering preferably includes asupport, more preferably a reinforcing support.

The plastics material used to form the floor covering according to theinvention preferably contains and/or is formed from a plastics materialas defined above preferably in an amount of 100 to 200 php, a blowingagent (e.g. an azodicarbonamide or a gas filled microsphere such as thatmarketed under the name Expancel by Akzo Nobel) preferably in an amountfrom 0 to 2 parts per hundred parts of plastics material (php), filler(e.g. calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, talc etc) preferably in anamount of from 0 to 100 php, thermal stabiliser (e.g. an organometalsoap stabiliser) preferably in an amount of from 1 to 3 php, pigment(e.g. titanium dioxide suspended in a compatible plasticiser from above)preferably in an amount of from 1 to 3 php. Other additives such as arheology modifier, biocide, and/or a UV stabiliser may also be used.

The floor covering could be produced in a number of ways i.e. wetcoating, calendaring and/or any other suitable production method. Thefloor covering may be made up of one or more layers of plasticsmaterial; preferably up to three layers are envisaged the manufacturingprocess may occur in stages to produce a single sheet floor covering.

The particulate material is preferably a grit; more preferably it is oneor more of a number of types of hard particles including siliconcarbide, a silica (e.g. quartz, a coloured or natural sand or a flint),aluminium oxide, emery and/or any other suitable material.

The floor covering may optionally further contain quartz, decorativechips or any other decorative additives to add a decorative effect. Thefloor covering may be embossed to enhance the decorative finish.

The invention is illustrated by a way of example with reference to thefollowing drawings in which:—

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a floor covering according to theinvention; and

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a production line for use in themanufacture of a floor covering according to the invention by a wetcoating process.

The floor covering 1 shown in the figure has an upper layer 5 having adecorative surface with surface particulates to improve slip resistance10, a scrim layer 25 and a lower layer 15 having a surface which isprovided with studs or profiles 15. In use, the floor covering is placedon a floor such that the lower surface of the floor covering 1 engagesan upper surface of the floor. The studs or profiles 15 allow themovement of air between the lower surface 10 of the floor covering andthe upper surface of the floor. This allows ventilation of the floorwhich is important if the floor is of concrete which has not curedcompletely.

With reference to FIG. 2, a production line indicated at 30 starts atthe point indicated at 31 where a non-woven support is unwound onto aninert carrier belt. A base coat is applied at 32 which is then heated inoven 34. The surface of the base coat is melted by infra red heaters 36before it is embossed at 38. The base coated support is then cooled andinverted such that its lower surface faces upwards at 40 before beingsubject to a top-coating process where a top coat is applied at 42 andaggregate material is scattered onto the top coat at 44. The top coat isthen heated in oven 46. The surface of the top coat is melted by infrared heaters 48 before being embossed at 50. The product is then cooled,cut to length and then wound at 52.

The preparation of a plastics floor covering according to the inventionis illustrated in the following example:

EXAMPLE 1

A plastisol having the formulation given in Table 1 was prepared asdescribed below: TABLE 1 Ingredients Weight/kg Solvic 266F  10 (100parts) Jayflex DIDP   5 (50 php) Microdol H155 6.5 (65 php) BZ505 0.2 (2php) Blue BLP pigment 0.2 (2 php)

Wherein Solvic 266SF is a PVC polymer manufactured by Solvay; JayflexDIDP is a di-isodecyl phthalate plasticiser manufactured by Exxon;Microdol H155 is a calcium magnesium carbonate manufactured by Omya;BZ505 is a liquid barium zinc preparation containing organic bariumcompounds and phosphite manufactured by Witco; Blue BLP pigment is aphthalocyanine blue pigment manufactured by Ciba Pigments.

The ingredients were weighed in to a 50 litre steel vessel and mixed bya suitable mixer using a trifoil shaft at 100 rpm for 4 minutes and adissolver shaft at 1800 rpm for 2 minutes. Aluminium oxide particles(from Washington Mills) size F40 (FEPA Standard 42-GB-1984 measurement)were weighed into each plastisol (10% w/w) and mixed.

The plastisol thus produced was used to make a floor covering accordingto the invention. It was spread coated at 1 mm by knife over roller ontoa non-woven support, and then fused at 185° C. for 3 minutes andembossed with the stud pattern. The PVC sheet was then reversed andcooled, a second coating of the plastisol was then spread coated at 1 mmonto the non-embossed surface. Particles of silicon carbide (F36FEPA-Standard 42-GB-1984), coloured quartz (nominally 0.7-1.2 mm) andplasticised pigmented PVC particles (nominally 2.5 mm) were scatteredonto the surface at an approximate rate of 100 gm⁻², using standardequipment known within the industry. The product was then fused at 175°C. for 3 minutes and was embossed with a sufficient enough nip-gap (i.e.space between emboss rollers which determines the pressure applied) toapply the required surface finish, but without destroying the studpattern on the reverse. This was achieved by the use of IR lamps to heatand soften the surface enough to allow a light pressure emboss to applyenough force to impress a pattern on the surface. The material was thencooled and wound onto a core.

1. A ventilating decorative floor covering for loose laying on the uppersurface of a floor which floor covering has a decorative upper surfaceand a lower surface on which are formed one or more studs which, in use,provide an air gap between the lower surface of the floor covering andthe upper surface of the floor sufficient to ventilate the floor.
 2. Afloor covering as defined in claim 1 wherein the lower surface of thefloor covering is chemically or mechanically modified to ensure thatthere is adequate grip between the lower surface of the floor coveringand the floor to which it is applied.
 3. A floor covering as defined inclaim 2 wherein the modification is in the form of a softening and/or aroughening of the lower surface.
 4. A floor covering as defined in claim3 wherein the lower surface is roughened by including a blowing agent inthe material from which the lower surface of the floor covering isformed.
 5. A floor covering as defined in claim 3 wherein the lowersurface is softened by including additional plasticiser or a chemicalblowing agent in the material from which the lower surface of the floorcovering is formed.
 6. A floor covering as defined in claim 1 whichincludes one or more particulate materials in the upper surface of thefloor covering to provide slip resistance.
 7. A floor covering asdefined in claim 6 wherein a particulate material is embedded in theupper surface of the flooring material which material is at leastpartially proud from the upper surface to achieve adequate slipresistance.
 8. A floor covering as defined in claim 1 comprising aplastics flooring material.
 9. A floor covering as defined in claim 8which includes a plastics material selected from the group consisting ofa PVC, a plasticised PVC, a polyurethane, an epoxy resin, an acrylic, aplasticised acrylic, a polyurefin, a polyester, and a PVC plastisol. 10.A floor covering as defined in claim 8 which includes a plasticsmaterial preferably in an amount of 100 to 200 php, a blowing agentpreferably in an amount from 0 to 2 parts per hundred parts of plasticsmaterial (php), filler preferably in an amount of from 0 to 100 php,thermal stabiliser preferably in an amount of from 1 to 3 php, and/or apigment preferably in an amount of from 1 to 3 php.
 11. A floor coveringas defined in claim 1 wherein the floor covering is a heterogenous floorcovering.
 12. A floor covering as defined in claim 1 which includes awear layer.
 13. A floor covering as defined in claim 1 wherein the uppersurface includes a decorative element such as a pigment and/or a PVCchip.
 14. A floor covering as defined in claim 1 which includes asupport.
 15. A method of laying a slip resistant floor covering todecorate and ventilate a concrete floor having an upper surface whichmethod includes loose laying on the upper surface of the floor a floorcovering having a decorative slip resistant upper surface and a lowersurface on which are formed a plurality of studs and/or other suitableprofiles which provide an air gap between the lower surface of the floorcovering and the upper surface of the floor sufficient to ventilate thefloor.
 16. A method as defined in claim 15 wherein the floor covering isas defined in claim 1.